Slow cooker advice

[Maria2007loveshersleep]

Hi all, I want to buy a slow cooker to save time; my aim is to prepare meals before work / have them ready for our mealtimes at 6.00/6.30). Also: I want to use a slow cooker to batch cook over weekends. We are a family of 3 but I want to be making slightly bigger quantities (eg for 5) to have leftovers for packed lunch & also maybe for freezing.

Any suggestions as to which slow cooker to choose, also: what size? And other general tips?

Watching this one. I've had a slow cooed for a year now and it stares at me accusingly from the cupboard.

Cooker, not cooed. Stupid autocorrect.

Go and have a look in jl at them, I've got the asda one which is big enough for us and cooks loads but if you want to do big batch cooking then maybe a 6ltr one would be better?

Then you can buy it cheaper off amazon than JL.

I wouldnt leave it on all day though, they are hotter than they were 30 years ago and you will have slop for dinner. Buy a plug in timer and switch it on 4 hours before you get in.

Daft question maybe but how does a plug in timer work & where do I get one?

Argos or the diy places usually do them, it plugs in to the socket then you plug the cooker into the timer.

Get the simplest one, they are fiddly to work but worth it.

I got this one and it's been fine.

www.comet.co.uk/p/Slow-Cookers/buy-PROLINE-SC35-U-Slow-Cooker/350192

The things I wanted were; oval shape (to fit chickens or funny shaped things in :)), glass lid, indicator light and removable crock for washing. I also didn't want to spend too much in case I ended up not using it.

It's big enough for a small chicken (put on a grill pan or scrunched up foil balls first to keep it slightly raised from the bottom), or about 4 large/5 small helpings of casserole type dishes.

My mum bought me a huge (6l) expensive one for xmas a couple of years ago - which broke just after a year. I replaced it with a smaller (3-4l?) cheapo one from Tesco about 6 months ago & it's been fab.

I use a timer plug too (I got mine from amazon). I usually use it to make lunch, so I prep things up the night before & set the timer to switch on early in the morning.

I have two, a small one for just me and a large one for things like whole chicken or legs of lamb.

I would not get a timer. most have an 'auto' setting that cooks for a number of hours then clicks over to 'warm' to keep the food warm.

I've got a combi, its a slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer and porridge cooker in one. I probably use the rice cooker as much as the slow cooker so I get twice the use from it. Never tried the other functions - yet!

didn't think you could do whole chickens and joints in slow cooker ...

I have three slowcookers and i love them all.

I find my big 6ltr one from Argos is great for batch cooking, doing chickens etc in, my middle 3ltr one is brilliant if doing just enough for a few people or rice puds or porridges, and my small 1ltr is great for fondues or sauces etc.

This is my 6ltr one
www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4228826/Trail/searchtext%3ESLOW+COOKER.htm

It does the job fine, never had any problems with it - just lots of lovely, tasty meals.

Yes you can, choclab - chickens are devine done in the slowcooker - just roll three small balls of foil to make a trivet, place chicken on it, season with salt, pepper and i sometimes add some dried sage or thyme, and cook on high for an hour then turn tolow for 5-6 hours.

The meat just literally falls of the bone and is so moist and succulent - and i find i get much more meat off the chicken cooking it this way too, so lasts longer.

You can choc, you just put them on and leave them to it.

Much cheaper than putting a big oven on.

It won't brown buy that doesn't bother me.

ok will try , do you put in all day ? silly question but how do you know cooked ? do you put in on owner with stock or something ?
thanks , like the sound of that ..use mine a lot to but mainly gravy dinners ..

Have just popped a whole chicken in the slow cooker and from experience I know it will be fab (sit it on 3 thick slices of onion, and season well with salt and pepper). Its also possible to use the brownings to make tasty gravy - but I transfer to a frying pan to do that on the hob.

We have the smaller size for 2 of us - and can make meals for 4 easily. If you will be doing lots of batch cooking I'd go for bigger size.

I was dubious about spending too much money, so we have a cheap (£14 I think from Argos) non fancy one, and we loved it so much we got another the same, so we can have 1 pot in the dishwasher while cooking next days meal.

Cook everything on slow and as a rule we put it on at 7am, one of us is home usually by 6 and switches it down to keep warm till we eat at about 9pm. Don't find its overcooked - sometimes if its chicken then it literally melts in the mouth but we quite like that. We tend to cook with cheap (read tough) meat which becomes so soft and tasty. I think if cooking with something soft like mince then it definitely would be too long - but thanks to this thread I might switch one of our lamp timers to a new use and have a go at some bolognese!

p.s. its taken us a while to get the hang of it, with regard to consistency of sauce - be careful not to add too much liquid because a lot of meat and veg will release their own liquid, and that just takes practice. Todays chicken - haven't added any liquid but from experience I know that there will be about 1-2cm of liquid when its ready - drain of the fat and then use it to make delicious gravy!

Well I'd put it in on high, leave it 3hrs then stick a sharp knife in the thigh and see if the juices run clear.

I never time meat I just look at it when it starts to smell cooked and decide if it's cooked or not.

Two massive ham hocks took about two hours the other day and 500g of pork shoulder took about an hour and a bit.

I start my chicken off on high for about an hour, then put it on low for 5-6 hours. You could do it on low for maybe -8 hours, but everyones different.

ok thanks will try , only on my slow cooker facility on my oven clearly states no whole chickens or joints ...

however i have another slow cooker like the ones you all have ...so will use that one i think , i will get ne one as bought really cheep one and on high everything seems to stick and burn when on for long time ...have had some time , plus small ..

Mine was a tenner from Tesco, it's about 4.5 litres I think, and it's fab, I honestly don't know how I managed without it before. I do loads of stuff in it, spag bols, chillis, stews, whole chickens and it all comes out so nice. If you buy a piece of brisket or stewing beef and leave it in for ages it just melts in the mouth when you take it out.
I also love a joint of gammon or ham covered in diet coke and left to cook, sounds weird but it's delicious.

The best thing is the dumplings you can make with real suet, they take seconds to make but they are delicious.

I dont use veg suet as it's palm oil and they destroy orangutans habitat, kill the mothers and put the babies in cages for entertainment. Once you get an orangutan on the ground it cant get away from what I've read.

So much great advice! Thanks! I'm off to JL & then Tesco to see if I can buy a slow cooker today. Wanted to ask: when you say 'put it on high' and then 'turn it down to low a few hours later', can most slow cookers be timed to do that? The idea for me would be to put on the slow cooker before the school run (around 8ish or so) then go to work, and then someone at home (my husband / or babysitter) would turn it off or put it on warm around 5 so when I'm home from work at 6ish we could have dinner. Might something like that work?

Definately! I switch mine on high before I leave for work, then when I get home about 4ish I turn it to low till I'm ready for it. Good luck x

Hi ,I did whole chicken one few weeks back , was very disappointed to be honest ...maybe I'm doing something wrong ?

I washed dried the bird , screwed up 4 balls of foil put under chicken , seasoned well , and put on my Auto facility on my slow cooker , claims to start off high then reduces to low as time goes on , did this at 7.30 am checked at 3 after school run, as entering house smelt awful .... checked was def cooked , put to low while i did other things (to keep warm ) came back hour later or so and was still smelly and i switched off , was dry as old boots on cutting ...and i couldn't eat it , Dh said was good but tbh would eat most things ...

i was really disappointed ....any advice of what i did wrong

have chicken at the ready for today to try once more .....any tips ?

thanks

Do I need to make sure everything is covered with liquid?

Mine is huge and over 30 years old. Works well but I only do stew/curry, hence the liquid question

No idea why your chicken didn't work, but there are a few things I do different so not sure if they're the reason. I don't wash the chicken, just check over and wipe away any blood and pull out any missed feathers. I've sat my chicken on thick bits of veg rather than foil and we have the simple slow cooker so have no idea about an auto one, just season the bird and put on low for day.
I've never had a bad smell do are you sure the chicken was ok? Also I've never had anything dry out in the slow cooker are you sure yours is working properly? Have you cooked other things ok in it? Does the lid seal properly as I understand that's fundamental to how the slow cooker should work?